Pending FA had Cowboys' game of the year, other Week 18 takeaways

The Dallas Cowboys' 2025 season officially came to an end with a loss to the New York Giants. They fell to 7-9-1, the first time Dak Prescott has ever had an under .500 record in a season that didn’t end with him injured. Prescott did his part, ending the season as a top-three passing yards leader, adding 30 touchdowns and only throwing 10 interceptions. He was a top-five QB in nearly every major category and led the offense to accomplish two 1,000-yard receivers and a career year for Jake Ferguson at tight end. That's all with running back Javonte Williams rushing for over 1,200 yards.

The defense wasted the big year from the offense, allowing 500 points for the first time in team history. The defense was a bottom-three unit all season, and there wasn’t much improvement after the team added players like Jadeveon Clowney, Quinnen Williams, and Logan Wilson via trades and free agency. Major Takeaways from this game now focus on what it shows towards the 2026 team going into the offseason.

Advertisement

Jadeveon Clowney should be brought back to Dallas

If cultural building is a selling point, having veterans with the right mentality to show young players like Donovan Ezeiruaku, Shemar James, DeMarvion Overshown, and Shavon Revel Jr. how to play under all circumstances is essential. In a meaningless game, Clowney could’ve asked out of playing as a veteran on a one-year contract, but he showed up and made an impact instead. He had a sack, a QB hit, and three tackles for a loss in the first half alone. He continued to impact the game after most starters sat down.

Clowney ended the game with six tackles, four for a loss, three sacks, three QB hits, a pass deflection, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. It was one of the standout defensive performances across the entire league for the season.

Advertisement

The Cowboys could bring back Clowney to pair with Ezeiruaku, and it wouldn’t be a deterrent to drafting an edge rusher early or paying a bigger money deal to another pass rusher this offseason.

Would the real Jaydon Blue please stand up

Playing with the starters in the first half, Jaydon Blue was incredible, running for 76 yards. He averaged nearly seven yards per attempt, had four runs over 10 yards, including a long of 27, and also scored a touchdown. That would’ve been a terrific way to go into the offseason after a poor rookie campaign for Blue, but the second half was the complete opposite.

Advertisement

The first two plays in the second half seemed like obvious shotgun runs, and without Dak Prescott or CeeDee Lamb on the field, the Giants jumped both handoffs for a loss of three yards on each. The next run for Blue was on the same shotgun run and lost another three yards. Blue only received two more carries and lost another three yards on the fourth run, and the last attempt didn’t gain a yard. Five handoffs in the second half, losing 12 yards off his first half total, to drop him down to 64 yards. Dallas might need Blue to be the big play back next season, but which version is likelier in 2026?

The game result was a positive

No one wants to watch their team lose, but this team gained so much more from a loss than from a victory. Dallas could've ended up drafting anywhere from No. 11 to No. 18, and ended up with the 12th pick in the draft, where they have drafted Micah Parsons and Tyler Booker, the last two times they picked in that spot. There isn’t much of a difference between 7-9-1 or 8-8-1, but that draft order difference is significant. New York is also losing what would’ve been the number one overall pick, falling to fifth.

Advertisement

You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Pending FA had Cowboys' game of the year, other Week 18 takeaways